Muska Beatz

I’ve got like nine songs that are pretty close to being done right now, and I’m trying to get like sixteen tracks together for ya and just droppin’ it. It’s comin’ closer than ever now, I’m pysched.

Is it pretty much just beats?

Yeah, but we’re going to put a few lyrics on it for sure, working with other MCs and stuff like that. I’ve got like all the instrumental stuff done, so we just gotta get the lyrics all together.

How long have you been making music?

I guess it’s been about six years now.

How did you get into it?

Basically music has always been a part of my life anyway, and I always had ideas of how I could create my own music. It was just a matter of having enough money to get the equipment. So I kind of just slowly started building up my equipment and learning the techniques. It was something I always wanted to do but didn’t have the means to before, you know?

Yeah. So what kind of equipment are you using?

I started off on the MPC-2000, which was my first real sampler, besides the other little janky stuff I had before that. That was my first main tool. I actually sold that, though. Now I’m using the E 6400 Ultra sampler. But I get a lot of my sound sources from vintage synthesizers, new synthesizers, records, and old and new drum machines. I’m actually rockin’ a lot of virtual gear on my computer right now, too. Like The Reason, it’s doing all the stuff my hardware is doing, but I’ll always love the hardware, too¿it’s just two different ways of doing it. There’re a lot of different techniques, but my main tools are Cu-base and Reason put together, plus some of the other audio-editing programs like Peak, Spark, and Recycle.

What are some of the bands or musicians that have kind of influenced you?

I don’t know, man. I’ve been kind of concentrating on my own shit lately. There’s a lot of crazy stuff I like, but I wouldn’t say my music is influenced by it. I like a lot of old shit, like old hip-hop shit I grew up on. I’ll go out to clubs and listen to what’s happening out there in the world, but apart from that, I got my old record collection and I listen to those¿there’re crazy old soul albums I can sample from.

So what’s in the disc changer?

“I got the new Jay-Z in my disc changer, this band called Funky Porceni” I think they’re from like Italy, some old De La Soul, maybe an Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Laughs My shit’s so random! I’ve got a Panacea tape in my tape deck right now, too; they’re pretty fresh, they’re from Germany.

So is there an album coming out?

Shit, I’m thinkin’ like a month and a half we’re going to able to rock this shit out and finish it up.

Where can people find the album?

They’re going to be able to get it in skateboard shops; we’re actually working on the distribution right now. Once we get that figured out, we’re going to do Paulo Diaz’s album, too. We’re in the process of working that out.

Do you have any tips for kids who want to start making beats?

It’s crazy, there’re more and more people out there doing it now, especially in the skateboarding world and youth culture. It seems like one out of every three kids is making beats nowadays. It’s cool ’cause there’re means for kids to make dope beats without having to spend 20,000 dollars on a studio. Especially with computers¿you can have a whole recording studio in a laptop. Basically, if someone wants to make beats and they feel it, they just have to have some dedication, it takes a lot of time. It took me a really long time to get where I’m at musically. The key is learning and just banging it out.